THE Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike said the judiciary was right when the Labour Party’s (LP) 2023 presidential candidate reclaimed his mandate as governor of Anambra State in 2007, but it was wrong when he lost before the Presidential Tribunal yesterday.
Wike, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chairman, spoke exclusively today on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
“Did Peter Obi not win at the Supreme Court when he was removed as governor? Did he pay bribe? Let him tell the world now,” Wike said.
“When he was removed as a governor, did he not reclaim his mandate at the Supreme Court? Judiciary was right but now that the decision happened, judiciary is wrong.”
The Presidential Election Court yesterday handed a 12-hour marathon verdict, dismissing the claims of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), the PDP and its flag bearer, Atiku Abubakar, as well as the cases of LP and Obi.
The five-man panel led by Justice Haruna Tsammani not only dismissed the consolidated petitions of the PDP, APM, and LP, but it also unequivocally affirmed Tinubu’s win in the presidential election.
Both Atiku and Obi have however rejected the Tribunal’s decision and have pledged to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Wike on the other hand stated today on Channels Television that he is a realist and that Obi will not win the February 25, 2023 election.
“I know that he won’t win the election. Let me tell you the truth, I am a realist,” the FCT minister said, explaining that he supported Tinubu rather than Obi or Atiku, who happened to be in the same party as himself (Wike).
“For me, the way the election went, it was a tough election. I give it to INEC (the Independent National Electoral Commission),” he said.
Wike said sentiments aside, Obi couldn’t have won the election. “Yes, as a young man, people would have preferred that but look at how the votes went,” he said.
“There is this generational change, the young people were tired. So, for them, the only hope they had was to vote for Obi as a younger person compared to other candidates.
“But unknown to them, that is not the reality of Nigerian politics. They didn’t take into cognisance that ethnicity is a factor. They didn’t take into cognisance that religion is a factor, not only competence; that is the reality of Nigerian politics,” the ex-governor of Rivers State said.
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